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Friday, October 10, 2014

The Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford (Blog Tour + Review)

The Sea House

by Elisabeth Gifford

Available April 2014
St. Martin's Press
320 pages

About the Book

Scotland, 1860.

Reverend Alexander Ferguson, naive and newly-ordained, takes up his
new parish, a poor, isolated patch on the Hebridean island of Harris.
His time on the island will irrevocably change the course of his life,
but the white house on the edge of the dunes keeps its silence long
after Alexander departs. It will be more than a century before the Sea
House reluctantly gives up its secrets. Ruth and Michael buy the grand
but dilapidated building and begin to turn it into a home for the family
they hope to have. Their dreams are marred by a shocking discovery. The
tiny bones of a baby are buried beneath the house; the child’s fragile
legs are fused together – a mermaid child. Who buried the bones? And
why? Ruth needs to solve the mystery of her new home – but the answers
to her questions may lie in her own past.

Based on a real nineteenth-century letter to The Times in which a Scottish clergyman claimed to have seen a mermaid, The Sea House is an epic, sweeping tale of loss and love, hope and redemption, and how we heal ourselves with the stories we tell.

My ThoughtsThe Sea House is a unique book ... making it a bit difficult for me to wrap my brain around and giving words to my thoughts. (It's not often I say that!)

The story is intriguing. The setting is beautiful! (Anyone want to visit Scotland with me now?!) The writing is lovely. The author has mastered a lyrical style that adds another layer to the story.

Books that go back and forth across two time periods are often to perfect. Personally, I felt that the historical storyline was better written, but I enjoyed the contemporary story as well.

Overall, I thought this was an intriguing book, and I'm interested to see what the author will deliver next. [3.5 stars]

Please note: While this book has a redemptive storyline, it was written for the general market.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through Litfuse Publicity in exchange for my fair and honest review.

About the Author

Elisabeth Gifford grew up in a vicarage in the industrial Midlands. She
studied French literature and world religions at Leeds University. She
is the author of “The House of Hope: A Story of God’s Love and Provision
for the Abandoned Orphans of China” and has written articles for The
Times and the Independent and has a Diploma in Creative Writing from
Oxford OUDCE and an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway College.
She is married with three children. They live in Kingston on Thames but
spend as much time as possible in the Hebrides.